Les Docks de Marseille is a building complex that is part of the Euroméditerranée – an urban renewal project in the harbour area of Marseille and the La Joliette quarter of the city. This is the front along the Quai du Lazaret where the Viaduc de la Joliette (Bridge) starts, which can be seen at the left edge of the panorama.
In 1856 Paulin Talabot who headed the Compagnie des Docks et Entrepôts de Marseille started the project of Les Docks de Marseille. The storehouse project was built after plans of the architect Gustave Desplaces between 1858 and 1864. The whole complex consists of 4 warehouses with their own courtyard and the management building “Hôtel de Direction” at the Place de la Joliette (right side). Les Docks originally were used for paper and wheat storage, later refridgerated chambers were added and gradually the buildings were restructured into offices. During the 1990s a refurbishing project was started carried out by the architect Eric Castaldi. Now the Les Docks complete complex is transformed into offices with glass-roofed atriums and a central internal pedestrian street from one end to the other.
Amongst the detail images on the right you can also see the front facade of the “Hôtel de Direction” facing Place de la Joliette.
